


Where Shadows Should Not Fall

by AshGunnywolf



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (briefly) - Freeform, (maybe), Banter, Body Horror, Death Threats, M/M, The Dark Side of the Force, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23389555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshGunnywolf/pseuds/AshGunnywolf
Summary: Armitage Hux thinks the rumors of what Kylo Ren has become are absurd. But when he seeks out the Supreme Leader's presence, he discovers that the rumors are not entirely unfounded.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Kudos: 26





	Where Shadows Should Not Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This fulfills the prompts "Greed," "Sith Eyes," and "Unstable" for Villain Kylo Week!  
> Thank you to TheSpaceCoyote for the help when I got stuck <3  
> To elaborate on the death threat tag, Kylo threatens to kill Hux, but it's not very strong and Hux doesn't believe Kylo means it.

There were rumors of the Supreme Leader being a monster.  
These were not the old rumors of Kylo Ren being an alien under his mask; everyone had seen his very human face. These were founded on his thirst for the Dark Side, expanding his abilities. People were beginning to believe that through his hunt for power, he’d become something more.  
There were whispers of a dark shadow in the hall where, logically, shadows should not fall. Secret murmurs that the Supreme Leader would appear in different places too quickly for him to have traveled there by foot. Somebody saying they knew somebody on the dead shift who felt an indescribable presence.  
General Hux dismissed it all as hogwash, of course. He had no reason to be afraid of Kylo Ren... no more reasons than he already had, of course. Ren was powerful in more ways than just the Force now - he was Supreme Leader - but he was still hungry for more. Greedy thing that he was, he was always searching the galaxy for more Dark Side relics and texts, never satisfied. While he was distracted from his work with the First Order, Hux took the opportunity to take care of things in his stead.  
However, at the moment, he needed documents authorized, and the Supreme Leader was nowhere to be found. He could take care of it himself with a little effort, but it was beginning to get ridiculous how scarce Ren had made himself. First it was the return of the helmet, then he’d started skipping meetings. He’d stopped appearing in public altogether a week ago.  
He was on the ship, Hux knew that much. His Silencer was still in the hangar.  
Hux asked around and grew annoyed as he was only given more rumors about Kylo Ren being a monster. After cutting off the fourth silly half-baked ghost story about Ren, he gave up and went to the Supreme Leader’s quarters.  
Using his master passcode, he entered the room with ease. It was as pristine as ever. One would assume that a man prone to using his lightsaber to destroy things in a fit of rage would live in a heap of squalor and shrapnel, but his room was always tidy.  
Upon closer inspection, however, this was an unnatural level of cleanliness. In the past, Ren’s room was at least lived in, with cups of water on the table and a datapad on the counter. This looked like a model room shown in brochures.  
He moved farther in, entering Ren’s bedroom. “Supreme Leader?”  
Then he felt it. It was like someone had poured a mixture of ice cold water and ink over him.  
_Get out of here,_ Ren’s voice echoed inside his head.  
“You’ve been remarkably absent this past week, even for you. I need you to take care of this. Do your job.” Hux’s eyes searched the room for where he could be.  
_Do it yourself. Leave me._  
“No.”  
_...No?_  
“That is correct.” Hux braced himself, holding his head high. He would not be cowed by a man hiding from him. “You need to be a leader.”  
_I can’t._

“You can’t?” Hux narrowed his eyes. He glanced over to the corner and saw a shadow.  
A shadow...where a shadow would not logically be.  
Oh.  
He slowly approached the corner, and Ren’s voice grew louder. _No! Go away! Leave me!_  
He reached out his hand and felt the corner. This shadow had mass, like he’d stuck his hand in thick oil. “Oh, Kylo, what have you done to yourself?”  
_I’ve grown so close to the Dark Side of the Force… but I’ve lost control._ Kylo’s voice sounded frightened. _I thought experimenting with transforming my body would give me more power._  
Hux shook his head. “You greedy thing. I always knew this Force business would get the better of you.”  
Kylo grumbled.  
“Am I wrong?” Hux teased.  
_I could kill you right now for this disrespect._ Kylo’s voice grew dark. _It would be so easy._  
“When has killing me ever not been easy?” Hux rolled his eyes. For a moment, he thought about how ridiculous it was that not only was he talking to a deeply Force-sensitive shadow but also the shadow was his direct superior and he was giving the shadow sass.  
_...I don’t know what to do._  
“You’ve gotten yourself into this mess, surely you can find a way out.” Hux ran his fingers through the oily darkness, and it began to change under his touch. The texture became softer, less grimy, a bit more like stroking a wild animal than dunking his hand in a vat of cold oil.  
_What are you doing?_ Kylo snapped.  
“I... think I’m helping you.” He stuck his other hand into the shadow, moving them as if petting Kylo’s head or perhaps forming the shape of his head from clay. “Focus on how I touch you. This might work.”  
As he traced the curves and lines of Kylo’s head and shoulders, the shape of the shadow changed. It appeared to gain mass as well, until it was a vaguely human-shaped black blob.  
_I think I understand…_ Kylo’s voice grew clearer, Hux could almost hear it with his ears instead of only his mind. _Don’t stop. Your touch... it’s strengthening my connection to your mind. I can feel your humanity. It’s guiding me back to my own._  
Hux smiled, against his better judgment. “I’ll remember that the next time Resistance propaganda calls me inhuman.”  
Kylo’s form rumbled, and Hux realized he was laughing at the joke. _I always manage to forget that you have a sense of humor._  
“I never put much stock in humor until you came aboard my ship, you know,” Hux said as he felt the individual details of Kylo’s face come into being: the full lips, the long nose, the eyes, all things he’d never admit he’d missed since Kylo reassembled his helmet. “Perhaps you’ve rubbed off on me.”  
“And now you’re returning the favor,” Kylo said.  
Aloud.  
It was working.  
Hux laughed, “Your voice startled me.”  
“...Should I stop talking?”  
“No!” Hux shouted, then paused to lower his voice. “No. I wasn’t expecting to hear your voice outside my mind so soon.”  
Kylo looked down at his hands, which were rapidly regaining his regular human flesh tone. “I would never have thought that all I needed was you.”  
Hux smiled and brushed Kylo’s hair behind his ear as the final details returned. “There you are.”  
The tip of Kylo’s ears turned pink. “This is…”  
“Too intimate?” Hux completed. “I know. You should put some clothes on.”  
Kylo looked down and realized he was naked. “Shit! Fuck, I’m sorry.”  
He looked up at Hux, and his eyes were brilliant yellow with rings of crimson around the outer rim of the iris.  
“Your eyes…”  
“I know. They were the first thing to change, before I devolved into a mass of darkness.” He looked away again. “I doubt they’ll ever change back. According to my readings of the ancient texts, this was common for Sith devotees.”  
Hux nodded, clasping his hands behind his back. “I’m not opposed to the coloration. It’s striking.”  
Kylo suppressed a smile, but Hux saw it. “I don’t know how long I can hold my human form. I might need your help again.”  
“Then I’ll be there for you again. Supreme Leader.” He turned to leave, but Kylo’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.  
“There’s no need for that language when we’re alone, Armitage.”  
Hux smiled. “Understood, Kylo.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me @goth_gunnywolf on twitter!


End file.
